The Bitcoin tsunami continues to gather height and thrust but not everyone is convinced.
When taxi drivers start to recommend crypto currency investments to you then it might be time to pull back.
Now a U.S. investment bank, Morgan Stanley, has penned a caustic critique on mass hysteria around the virtual currency, as industry publication MarketWatch reports.
In the report Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette has held up bitcoin as a poster child for speculation while downplaying its potential as a legitimate currency.
Commercial Acceptance Lacking
Earlier this year Morgan Stanley had warned that for digital currencies to join the ranks of other traditional investment tools, they must accept government oversight, although it did not articulate what that would entail.
«The disparity between virtually no merchant acceptance and bitcoin’s rapid appreciation is striking,» according to Faucette.
China Agrees
The Morgan Stanley analyst points out that the number of online merchants accepting bitcoin has dropped to just three, from five a year earlier. During the same period, the value of the crypto currency has soared more than 250 percent.
An adviser to the central bank of China has also said Bitcoin can be an asset but will never be a currency.
Bitcoin Welcome Here
However clearly not all financial institutions agree with the derisive Morgan Stanley view.
Falcon Private Bank announced this week it was embracing Bitcoin.
Customers of the «troubled private bank» can now purchase, sell and manage Bitcoin directly via online banking or via their customer adviser. You can also check your Bitcoin account online - or by means of your account statement.
